Wood or Plastic Fencing?

[WifeandMother]

Hey everyone...I am in need of replacing the "fencing" on our front porch and was wondering what materials would be best to use. Also...anyone out there know of a good company that comes out and does this? The wooden spindles on the fencing now are rotting. Oh...and what do you think the approx. pricing would be? Thanks in advance!

 

[Vince]

I currently have a wooden fence and if/when I replace it, it will be that white plastic stuff, 6ft high privacy fence. No maintenance/painting, staining, or wood preservatives.

 

[Cowgirl]

I currently have a wooden fence and if/when I replace it, it will be that white plastic stuff, 6ft high privacy fence. No maintenance/painting, staining, or wood preservatives.

I think she means the railing on her front porch. :shrug:

 

[Vince]

I think she means the railing on her front porch. :shrug:

I saw fencing and jumped the gun. She needs to explain if it is a railing for a wooden porch or cement.....:shrug:

 

[nobody really]

I replaced my wooden fence in the back yard with 6 foot vinyl fencing. Love it. My friend had her deck built with tyvex (i think thats what its called). I've seen vinyl railings/porches on the decks down at the bay. If they make vinyl siding, maybe they make vinyl railings?

 

[WifeandMother]

Sorry...I should have been more specific...it is the railings for the front porch...I was not sure what exactly to call it because it looks like fencing..

 

[Vince]

Sorry...I should have been more specific...it is the railings for the front porch...I was not sure what exactly to call it because it looks like fencing..

What is the porch made from? Cement or wood?

 

[DQ2B]

Go with the vinyl.

 

[JessieGirl]

Vinyl. We replaced our wooded railing last summer with vinyl. Best move we've ever made. Got them from Lowes. Cost us about $4500 but our front porch is 48 feet long. It is a little pricey...but worth every penny.

 

[yankee44]

The best and cheepest place to vinyl railing is to directly to A2W on Airport View Drive in Hollywood.

When I was working for myself that is where I got all of my vinyl products.

 

[WifeandMother]

Thanks for the info...I was leaning towards the vinyl as it seems like it won't have to be replaced. The porch is wooden. It sits up in front of the house not on the ground. Mine is no where near 48 ft.

 

[ylexot]

Plastic

My house was built with wooden posts and no railings in ~2000. I added the plastic railings maybe two years ago. Now the wooden posts are looking like they need to be replaced and the railings still look new (aside from dust, spider webs, etc). I might replace the posts with plastic ones this summer.

 

[ylexot]

Vinyl. We replaced our wooded railing last summer with vinyl. Best move we've ever made. Got them from Lowes. Cost us about $4500 but our front porch is 48 feet long. It is a little pricey...but worth every penny.

My porch is 40 feet and it didn't cost anywhere close to that much

Maybe $600-$800?

 

[ylexot]

I just checked on the Lowes web site. It should cost ~$170-$200 per 8-foot section using the deluxe top rail an colonial spindles or ~$130-$140 per 8-foot section using the square top rail and spindles.

 

[WifeandMother]

My porch is 40 feet and it didn't cost anywhere close to that much

Maybe $600-$800?

Did you do the work yourself? I can't imagine it being too difficult to tear out the old and install the new. I may be wrong but watching all of those Do It Yourself shows have really gotten me fired up.

 

[ylexot]

Did you do the work yourself? I can't imagine it being too difficult to tear out the old and install the new. I may be wrong but watching all of those Do It Yourself shows have really gotten me fired up.

Yeah. You'll probably need to cut pieces, so you will need some type of saw (chop/miter saw is best). Then the tougher parts are:
1) measuring/cutting it so that the spacing of the spindles is even on either side.
2) putting it in place can be tricky (especially by yourself) since there really is nothing holding the pieces of the railing together.

 

[widget]

We did the installation ourselves for the plastic railing and spindles. It was pretty easy. Got supplies from Lowes- Approx $500.00 for 25-26 feet of new railing.

 

[jazz lady]

Definitely vinyl. I have that on my very large front porch and can't imagine having to paint it every year. Just pressure-wash it once a year and it stays looking great.